DDCE Installation at Ushiku Daibutsu / Giant Buddha Statue

Southeast Asia is well known for its annual monsoon season, which in addition to heavy rains, brings huge electrical storms, causing serious incidents and material losses, as was the case of the lightning which struck this bronze statue, an important tourists attraction.

Fortunately, one of the 1 metre diameter rosettes falling off caused no injuries. Following the incident, a DDCE was installed, increasing the level of safety of both people and systems.

This statue, located in Ibaraki prefecture, near Tokyo, Japan, is one of the largest in the world. It is 120 meters high and weighs over 4,000 tons. The Japanese Buddha is three times higher and thirty times larger than the Statue of Liberty. For example, we can say that each finger is over 7 meters long.

This sculpture was completed in 1995; its structure is steel, coated in bronze. It is three times higher and thirty times larger than the Statue of Liberty.
The dimensions have a symbolic importance: The 120 m height (of which 100 are the statue itself and the remaining 20 are for the pedestal) relate to 12 beams of light emerging from the Buddha towards the world.

The statue itself is a four-storey building with access to the inside. It contains a museum with many Buddha images and is a centre of worship. You can access up to the Buddha’s chest level, 85 meters up, in an internal lift; there are windows in the Buddha at that level, to observe the panorama of the surrounding areas. The statue is surrounded by a park and gardens with all kinds of plants that bloom in all seasons. In addition, several festivals and firework seasons are celebrated. 85 m above ground level is the observatory, from where you can see Mount Fuji, with a 360° panorama.